A/N: hello, I am MrTerribleWriter (accurate, probably) and this is my first crossover fanfiction. I've written small one-shots on a different account, but they were different fandoms. This is supposed to be a two-shot at best, but if this gains traction and people want me to I may make this into a full story. That would require that these chapters are replaced with chapters that fit in from the start of my lore, and the story itself might even be taken down; either way, read this for me and please please please give feedback. I'm looking to improve my writing, that's the entire reason I'm on this website, so if you do read please feedback. Thanks!

"...and Earth was a beautiful place; at least, before it had been ravaged by the Covenant's invasion. We recovered, yes, and it wasn't as cataclysmic as the effects of, say, the Chicxulub Impactor wiping out the dinosaurs. But it wasn't as beautiful as the Romanticists of the 19th century described it, and I doubt that little blue marble will ever go back to it. Nonetheless, the Covvies didn't manage to wipe us out entirely - all thanks to the Master Chief - and our civilization was back on the table, forcing out what was left after the Great Schism. Peace and prosperity ruled what little we had ventured into in the Orion Arm, and Humanity took great strides technologically. Hell, our best ships were beginning to outperform some of the lesser Forerunner ships. We were making good progress, and our expansion was beginning to reach beyond the Orion-Cygnus, and that was when we met you."

Admiral Marcus Johnson was smiling, pointing at one of the many floating cameras orbiting his position in the Galactic Senate, as though to say "Yeah, you!" to whoever was watching the live feed on the many screens of Coruscant. He was flanked by two pristinely dressed members of the Terran Republic Secret Service, descendants of the United States Secret Service, with their black 2-piece suits, black sunglasses - actually a HUD - seemingly robotic bald heads and no visible weapon; but by no means were they unarmed. Hidden within their suit top was an ArmaLite-Kalashnikov ALK-20 Retractable Barrel Service Weapon, capable of firing armour piercing rounds at near-supersonic speeds. These weapons could be "whacked" out to turn them into submachineguns, and their NeuroLink chip transmitted a live feed of vitals and other information to a cloaked ONI Prowler orbiting Coruscant.

"Now, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first meeting between our two civilizations, the Terran Republic will be hosting a grand party on the closest planet to that fateful spot, Diplomat. All senators and a small number of people they wish to bring are invited, and the party will also serve as a staging ground for the biggest trade deals between the Republic and our own. Until then, thank you for your acceptance and acknowledgement of our humble species, and we will see to it that this day will be remembered in history of the galaxy!"

The admiral lowered his head in a bow as the Chancellor's pod descended to it's hidden station near the bottom of the chamber. Supreme Chancellor Valorum shook his hand, exchanging a few words of common courtesy - he was forced to shout over the roar of applause and cheers coming from the Senate - before the UNSC High Command member offloaded the pod flanked by his bodyguards. They moved down the curved corridor on the exterior of the senate building, with a seemingly infinitely long window providing an immaculate view of the Coruscant skyline.

"Busy day, sir? We're still scheduled for 4 more visits to various galactic corporations, and that'll take us to just before dusk."

"Indeed, 007," replied the Admiral, referencing one of the the numerically identified, genetically modified agents of the TRSS. "Here I am, hoping that my bureaucratic job doesn't contain any more bureaucracy..."

Johnson's talking faded out of 006's hearing, and was barely audible in 007's, as their highly advanced senses allowed the two agents to detect a high energy projectile; a bolt of plasma and energy heading straight for the Admiral's back. As they had trained for oh-so-many times before, 007 began to draw his ALK-20 and spin in order to open fire, while 006 lunged at the Admiral, not to force the admiral out of the way but to allow his concealed body armour to tank the hit.

PSHWOOM!

The sound of energy being dispersed and plasma being absorbed was what interrupted the Admiral's talk-train, as the officer slammed into the ground with 006 on top of him. The sound of silenced armour piercing rounds colliding with armour purely designed for energy absorption led to the screams of Senate Guards, with their blue armour being stained crimson.

"Six to India Victor, Priority One; initiate Exodus."

At an RPM of 180, the ALK-20 could dish out 3 rounds a second with minimal recoil, using the high gas pressure from the firing of the round to sustain both rapid ejection of the cartridge and the calculated release (a small portion of the under-barrel section was dedicated to computer-assisted functions of the weapon) of said gases to act as a bulwark against muzzle climb. However, the punishment was not without resistance, as a few streaks of light flew by the position that the trio were in. 006 practically pushed Admiral Johnson forwards and into a sprint, with a blaster bolt whizzing just centimetres right of his head.

"GET US OUTTA HERE!"

"...initiate Exodus."

That was the command that sent the AI Nightstalker into action, as it released 6 drop-pods that were on standby in the ONIP Invisible Vanguard. Once all pods were released, it activated primary weapon systems, disengaged the cloaked, put the engines out of standby mode and transmitted a pre-generated message back to the Terran-controlled planet of Diplomat, informing them of the developing situation.

Those 6 drop-pods contained a type of soldier so incredibly powerful that one of them saved Humanity.

Spartans.

Specifically, Spartan Vs. After the lacklustre performance of Spartan IVs against threats beyond the limits of the Covenant War, UNSC High Command decided morality was less important than potency and gave ONI the green light to develop a new series of Spartans even more enhanced than the Spartan IIs, and something every researcher dreams of.

A blank cheque.

High Command understood that none would come close to the Master Chief - the decommissioning of Cortana included the release of all information she had ever processed into a quantum computer, and it was then that the higher ups had realised the Chief was just extremely lucky. All they wanted were Spartans that could hold up against this new galactic community they had discovered.

And so, ONI set out to do just that. They gathered thousands of unadopted orphans under the age of 10 from across the Terran Republic, replaced in a similar fashion to those of the flash clones used for the Spartan IIs. These orphans were then rigorously trained, indoctrinated and modified over the course of the next ten years of their lives, and there was a large percentage of deaths. But those who remained were ordained the Spartan Vs, the newest era of Spartans. The old multipurpose MJOLNIR armour was replaced with AEGIS series armour for head-on combat and HERMES series armour for reconnaissance or deep operations. AEGIS used most of the same components as MJOLNIR, but updated with new scientific advancements from Forerunner research. It also offered full-body plating, reducing the gaps between the plates on MJOLNIR. On the other hand, HERMES focuses on energy protection (shielding, active protection systems) instead of physical defence to provide greater mobility. It also utilizes a small pack on the back plate containing comms and reconnaissance equipment equivalent to that of a dedicated frigate; the files on the systems used inside are permanently sealed, only to be released with absolutely zero press after a minimum of 500 years.

The Spartan Vs contained inside the six drop-pods that had been released from the Invisible Vanguard were split into two teams; Mars and Minerva. Mars Team was a four-man direct action team tasked with linking up with the Admiral and his two bodyguards, and they were all equipped with AEGIS armour; Minerva Team was a two-man indirect fire team tasked with providing both sniper fire and fire support from the ONIP in orbit. Once Mars had linked up with the trio that were designated "Damsel", they would fight their way to the top of one of the nearby corporation towers - TRANSGALACTIC FREIGHT CORPORATION - where the UNSC's brand new multipurpose special forces dropship would be waiting.

This new dropship was called the UH-151 Ptero, named after the Pterodactyl of the Mesozoic Era, and was mainly used for run-and-gun tactics or CASEVAC during special forces operations. Armed with a dual 20mm "Tyrant" autocannon (named as such due to its tendency to silence its enemies), and two internal hardpoints for multi-target AGM-808 "Trident" missiles, the nimble vessel could reasonably defend itself during the operations that it would be assigned to. Designed to be a replacement to the UH-144 Falcon, the Ptero was expected to be in service, at least in the form of considerable upgrades, for another few centuries - hopefully living up to the venerability of the M12 Warthog.

The pods were already well in the atmosphere, leaving white-hot trails of burning gas in their wake as four of them dove towards the Galactic Senate's main building. A mere 30 seconds after release, the pods activated their thrusters, decelerating to acceptable levels before crashing but 125 metres away from Damsel. These re-entry vehicles were marked with the brand of the UNSC, and were built to sustain large amounts of triple A fire; not that they encountered any on their way down to Coruscant. The doors were ejected, and self-destruct initiated, as four Spartan Vs moved out and cleared the red-lit corridor. Surprisingly, there were no alarms, but the echoes of rushed footsteps - likely from the Senate Guard, as Damsel was still pinned down - met their enhanced hearing.

"Romeo, Yankee, link up with Damsel; me and Ares will clear out your path. And, Yankee, make sure you coordinate with Minerva; I don't want that Prowler sitting around doing nothing when we get stuck." Ordered the squad leader, Spartan J-485 "Jason", as him and Spartan A-202 "Ares" jogged - though their jogging was akin to a Spartan IV's sprint - to one of the chokepoints of the Senate building. Here, the duo would prevent the enemy from fortifying as Damsel was extracted to their position.

"Jason, one of the TRSS agents held off the Senate Guard while the Admiral and the other agent moved closer to our LZ. Should we recover?" Spoke Romeo, as the distinct noise of the Spartan's MA7S Assault Rifle could be heard dishing out dozens of rounds. The MA7S was two iterations ahead of the MA5B, still using a similar FMJ-AP round but with much higher stopping power. These rounds were also upgraded to act as "mini-EMPs", which enabled them to be much more effective against energy shielding, in stark contrast with the MA5B's lacklustre performance against Covenant editions of the technology. It was also much sleeker than the MA5B, with the dedicated computer-assistance section being much smaller while still retaining better computing capabilities than its predecessor. This enabled the MA7S to have a dedicated scope, compared to how the Spartan-IIs had to use their in-built binoculars to shoot at longer ranges.

"Negative. They know how to handle being a POW. Priority is Damsel, let's exfil while we still can. Point Alpha is clear too, we'll be advancing to Point Bravo."

Romeo and Ares began to move towards the pre-determined Point Bravo, turning a corner before being met with dozens of blaster shots being thrown into their shields and into the wall behind them from a fortified position with a Senate Guard wielding a Z6 Rotatory Blaster Cannon. Romeo swung back behind the corner at superhuman speeds, while Ares raised his chaingun, an M51 "Daemon", utilizing his modified armour to stand tall in the face of the overwhelming fire as he returned his own barrage of projectiles.

This armour was specifically built for Ares, since his implants and modifications 'mutated' (read: were completely different) to create an 8'2 beast compared to the average 7'4 of the other Spartan Vs. Designed to live up to the armour series' name, AEGIS-A202 specifications meant additional armour plating on top of the full-body plates, bulking up the armour to such a degree that it was believed it could tank lighter anti-ship rounds. Not that the armour was cheap enough to test that, anyway. The standard fusion reactor was beefed up to provide more energy to the shields, which were calculated to be 247% more powerful than standard AEGIS armour. The helmet was reminiscent of the MJOLNIR Gen 3 base model - the same one used by the Master Chief on Zeta Halo - while still incorporating the new technology that was included in the AEGIS package. Double gel layers provided double the kinetic mitigation, and the armour lock-up was so strong that it survived a small-scale nuclear detonation. An AI was developed from scratch so that it was as advanced compared to modern AIs as Cortana was to the other AIs of her time.

The armour was so valuable to the UNSC, that there were only two options available for prevention of capture; use of a NOVA bomb, of which only one was still in service, or deploying a supercarrier in order to swiftly recapture the suit. This was because the Cole Protocol was, admittedly ceremoniously, still in effect, and it prohibited revealing the precise location of Earth or the Inner Colonies; the AI assisting Ares was, as such, protected by said Protocol.

Ares mowed down the lone Senate Guard in seconds, and the silent individual began to accelerate to a full sprint - a whopping 30km/h, although he was severely assisted by the hydraulics of his armour - to shoulder barge the fortification, sending the durasteel flying and splintering, while Romeo walked up to where Ares had stopped.

"Well, Ares, I did read the parts of your file even ONI didn't want me to see, and you sure as hell look like you could live up to your name. Lone Wolf should've stayed with B312, you should be the God of War."

"My name."

"...good point. Let's get moving."

Romeo's day could not get more boring.

As part of Mars Team - one of the many AEGIS-wielding Spartan V teams - he was typically assigned on "Surgical Annihilation" operations, wherein the team would quietly infiltrate before blowing their way to the objective and then back home.

That wasn't what this operation was. First, he had to use a drop pod, which should've been reserved for the crazed Marine Raiders because those things were uncomfortable, and then he had to stick to the plan that was somehow surviving contact with the enemy, and then he remembered that this was an extract op for the god-damned high brass, and now these fancy "Senate Guards" in their blue ceremonial dress who were supposed to follow the Chancellors orders who were firing on the aforementioned high brass just after a supposedly positive result from the diplomatic mission weren't even putting up a good fight.

Could something fun happen at least once toda-

BOOM!

A rocket from an RPS-6 Rocket Launcher slammed into the shielded back of Spartan R-409 "Romeo", sending him flying off the ledge that he was running along and towards the bottom of the Senate Building. Still roughly 1 kilometre away from the ground, Romeo had time to lock his armour up - at the cost of no communications for a while - before slamming into the ground at terminal velocity for Coruscant's gravity. The floor around him cracked, and his armour was released; this was only to find himself in the line of sight of about six Senate Guards patrolling the area, who swiftly raised their Mk II Paladin blaster rifles, trained on the Spartan that had just slammed into the Avenue of the Core Founders.

"RAISE YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND DO NOT MOVE!" One of the guards demanded.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm a Terran! A human!" In the aftermath of armour lock-up, AEGIS was flawed in that the shields had to fully recharge in comparison to previous models had at least some shield left after a full use of a lockup. Romeo understood this, and so had to stall until his shields recharged.

"I SAID, RAISE. YOUR. HANDS!"

"Alright, alright!" Romeo complied, raising his hands up in the air from his position on the ground.

Wait, weren't they shooting at us?

"NOW, STAND UP AND KEEP YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"

Romeo did as the Senate Guard said, as his HUD showed the discreet recharge of his shields.

"Jack, Zrryon, get him in cuffs."

As the Senate Guards approached, his comms started to crackle to life again; but he could only catch moments of audio, and one of the transmissions was from the ONI Prowler to Minerva Team.

"Protocol Fallen Angel."